Apple criticized over location tracking of iPhone and iPad

Apple is in a hot seat right now after Privacy watchdogs are demanding answers from Apple Inc. regarding reasons why iPhones and iPads are collecting location data on users in secret. These are records that cellular service providers routinely keep but need a court order to disgorge.

However the worry was impelled after a report from researchers Alasdair Allan and Pete Warden at a technology conference in Santa Clara, California, questioned the extent about of privacy you implicitly surrender by carrying around a smartphone and the responsibility of the smartphone makers to protect sensitive data that flows through their devices.

A great deal of concern about the iPhone and iPad tracking comes from the fact the computers are logging users’ physical coordinates without users knowing it, in addition to that, information is then stored in an unencrypted form that would be easy for a hacker or a suspicious spouse or a law enforcement officer to search without a warrant.

Researchers stress that there’s no evidence that Apple itself has access to this data. The data seemingly stays on the device itself, and computers the data is backed up to. Meanwhile, Apple didn’t immediately gave an answer to a request for comment by The Associated Press.

To track somebody is a normal part of owning a cellphone, but then, how the data is being handled is being questioned.